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HIV positive student turned out of school

LUCKNOW: A nine-year-old HIV positive student was turned out of a government-run primary school in Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad district as the principal mistakenly feared he would spread the virus among other children, officials said on Monday.

LUCKNOW: A nine-year-old HIV positive student was turned out of a government-run primary school in Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad district as the principal mistakenly feared he would spread the virus among other children, officials said on Monday.

A complaint was Monday filed against the principal of Belmonda Primary School in Allahabad for “humiliating” the the Class 4 student, a resident of Jasra locality, an official said.

“We learnt that the nine-year-old was Saturday shooed away from the school by its principal for being HIV positive,” Brijesh Mishra, official in-charge of primary education in the district, told IANS over telephone from Allahabad, some 200 km from here.

“We still don’t know how the school principal came to know that the boy was HIV positive. We have initiated an inquiry in this regard,” he said.

According to officials, the child’s parents had died of AIDS in Soraon locality. While the mother died nearly three years ago, his father died last June. After his father’s death, the boy’s maternal uncle brought him to his home in Jasra and had admitted him to the school.

We assure that the student will not have to face any problems from the school administration. We will take stern action against the principal who was responsible for the incident,” Mishra said.

“The incident exposes that it’s not only the illiterate, awareness about AIDS and HIV is quite low amongst the educated class as well,” he added.